A former Derbyshire County Council employee has been sentenced after she fraudulently applied for tens of thousands of pounds worth of charity vouchers which were intended to support children living in poverty across the UK.
Gemma King claimed a total of £90,000 worth of vouchers from the social enterprise Family Fund Business Services over a nine-month period between November 2018 and August 2019.
The 39-year-old did so under the guise of legitimate funding requests via her role as Family Support Worker at the council.
She continued to claim vouchers whilst being off on long-term sickness leave, attempting to use both her work and personal email addresses to send and receive the vouchers.
The funding for the vouchers was granted through the BBC Children in Need Emergency Essentials Programme and administered by Family Fund Business Services, social enterprise of parent charity Family Fund. The latter provides financial support to the UK’s most vulnerable children who are facing difficult circumstances or crisis.
King, of Braybrook Street, Hammersmith, London used the vouchers to buy white goods and other various items which she then sold on for a profit or would sell the vouchers below face value on social media websites.
When officers searched her address in Stonebroom, Alfreton they found dozens of brand-new items, stacked up in boxes, which had been purchased with the vouchers.
Suspicions were raised by Family Fund after King submitted an unusually high number of applications over a month’s period.
The suspicions led to the police being called and from that, a criminal investigation began.
King was arrested on suspicion of fraud by abuse of position and money laundering offences.
Following her arrest officers interrogated her bank accounts in order to work out where the money was being moved once it was paid to her.
Detectives discovered that substantial amounts of cash were being transferred to a second account – one that was in the name of her then husband Jamie King.
When interviewed he denied knowing anything about the fraud, however, further interrogation of his accounts found that he had played an active role in attempting to hide the cash and he was charged with money laundering offences.
Meanwhile his then partner Gemma was charged with both money laundering and fraud by abuse of position and was subsequently summonsed to appear at court.
Today (25 April) a judge at Derby Crown Court sentenced her to two years in prison, suspended for two years, 150 hours of unpaid work, and a sixth month curfew, after she admitted the charges at an earlier hearing.
Jamie King, 39, and of Agnes Road, Acton, London, was admitted one count of concealing criminal property and was handed an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and must complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
Officer in the case, Detective Constable Calla Millwaters said: “This was a complex and long running investigation which concerned a hugely emotive area, which we knew would be of great public interest due to the charitable organisations involved.
“Gemma King abused her powers as a Family Support Worker at Derbyshire County Council, effectively stealing from children and families who she was supposed to be helping.
“Over a nine month period she submitted hundreds of applications for funding and continued her behaviour, fraudulently making claims even through a long period of sickness leave: a move that in the end resulted in her crimes being discovered.
“I would like to thank all the parties involved in this case, who between them uncovered the truth about these frauds and in doing so paved the way for new procedures to be implemented between local authorities and third-party organisations which will prevent the same thing from happening in the future.”
